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SECONDHAND SERMONS

 

“I don’t have the time for sermon preparation with all the other pastoral responsibilities that demand my attention.”

“Other preachers say it better than me, so why not use their messages to reach my people better?”

“The communication experts know how to craft a message that will attract people much better than I do.”

“If we are going to reach more people, we need to be spending more time studying people than we do studying the Bible.”


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A THREE-LEGGED STOOL

A Three-Legged Stool

A THREE-LEGGED STOOL – All expositional preaching rests on a three-legged theological stool, 1) exegetical theology, 2) biblical theology, and 3) pericopal theology. These three legs are all necessary for expository preaching.

FIRST LEG: EXEGETICAL THEOLOGY

In 1981, Walter Kaiser sounded a grim warning about a growing crisis in evangelical preaching. The crisis has only grown worse since he warned us about it 40 years ago. The crisis in evangelical preaching is the loss of exegetical theology as a foundation for our sermons.[1]


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ISAIAH 55:11 PREACHERS

ISAIAH 55:11 PREACHERS

“No one knows the Bible today, so talking about the Bible is boring to people.”

“The Bible is not relevant to my daily life. Who cares what happened to Hosea?”

“Our world has changed, so we need sermons that relate to our changed world?”

“You have to preach about what people want to hear if you want to help them with what they need to know.”

“Why do you spend all that time in the exegesis of the text? All that work studying the Bible won’t help you understand the needs of people.”


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PREACHING TO MAKE DISCIPLES

 

SHOCKING STAT: Less than 10% of evangelical sermons mentioned the words sin, salvation, heaven, or hell!

The statistic comes from a database of almost 50,000 sermons compiled by the Pew Research Center, which were delivered between April 7 and June 1, 2019.[i] Much evangelical preaching today identifies human needs and proclaims Christ as a need-fulfiller. It is a man-centered gospel. Bill Hull nicknamed it “gospel Americana.”[ii] The message is simple. “God loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life!” The result of such a reductionist message is that many people become converts who want no part of the demands of being a disciple.[iii]


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A BEELINE FROM THE CROSS

 

A Beeline from the CrossC.H. Spurgeon supposedly said that he took his text and made a “beeline to the cross.” The purpose of every sermon, then, should be to preach the cross. There is no evidence that Spurgeon ever said these words, but they represent a common viewpoint used to justify a singular purpose for all preaching.[i] Every sermon has one purpose, in this view, and that purpose is to lead people to Christ on the cross. Every individual Scripture text intends to point us in some way to redemption in Christ.[ii]

Is this what Paul said in 2 Timothy 3:16-4:4? No, not at all. Heralding the word (2 Tim. 4:2) means equipping the saints for “every good work” (2 Tim. 3:17). The training in righteousness (2 Tim. 3:16) starts with the cross but does not end at the cross. Sermons become predictable when every sermon must end at the cross.[iii]

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